Turkey’s involvement in South Asia through Islamist groups like Popular Front of India (PFI), known to be an Islamist organization, is an alarming development for those watching global terror networks, and these linkages are not just limited to India, but to Pakistan and Syria also, through organizations like Al Qaeda and the ISIS (Islamic State). 

PFI was launched in 2007 and is believed to be new front for the National Development Front (NDF) which was banned in 2001 by Indian authorities for its involvement in terrorism. Reportedly, NDF had also received funding from Pakistan and Iran. PFI also has linkages to Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). PFI’s National Executive Council member, P. Koya held high positions in NDF and SIMI respectively. Similarly, PFI vice president EM Abdul Rahiman and E. Abu Bakar both held top positions at SIMI.

There are recent reports by independent Turkish media that say PFI was also hosted in Turkey. A Turkish intelligence-linked jihadist charity group networked with PFI as part of the Turkish government’s outreach to Muslim communities in the South Asia region. 

According to a Nordic Monitor investigation, two key leaders of the PFI, E. M. Abdul Rahiman and Prof. P. Koya (members of the National Executive Council of the PFI) were privately hosted in Istanbul by the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı, or IHH), an al-Qaeda-linked Turkish charity. İHH has been banned in Germany and Israel due to its terror support activities.

The meeting was held at IHH headquarters in Istanbul on October 20, 2018 and attended by IHH Secretary-General Durmuş Aydın and IHH Vice President Hüseyin Oruç. The representatives of both organizations discussed promoting a partnership in various fields.

The IHH is known to be have close links to the Turkish intelligence service MIT. The IHH has also been accused of smuggling arms to al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists in Syria in January 2014 in a counterterrorism investigation conducted by Turkish prosecutors. 

The investigation into a Turkish al-Qaeda cell found that İbrahim Şen, a top al-Qaeda operative who was detained in Pakistan and jailed at Guantanamo until 2005 before he was turned over to Turkey, his brother Abdurrahman Şen and others were sending arms, supplies and funds to al-Qaeda groups in Syria with the help of Turkey’s intelligence service.

Islamabad is all set to stage an elaborate drama in preparation for the on-site visit by the officials from the global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to verify the implementation of Pakistan’s relevant anti-money laundering and terrorism-financing reforms. The Pakistani establishment has all the paperwork for a counter-terrorism mechanism in place, but the reality is rather different. It has released a slew of national security and counter-terrorism documents, but there has been no impact on terrorism-related threat reduction from Pakistan. The country may be removed from the FATF grey list after an on-site visit which may verify the implementation of its reforms on countering terror-financing mechanisms.

But certain issues must be kept in mind by the FATF when this visit occurs. For example, in keeping with the farce that Pakistan habitually puts up, there is the recent case of India-focused terrorist Sajid Majeed Mir. One of New Delhi’s most wanted, the US had placed a bounty of USD 5 million on Sajid Majeed Mir – who is part of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 people dead, including six Americans. 

Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed he had died but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATF’s assessment of Pakistan’s progress on the action plan late last year. This was where things finally started moving in Mir’s case leading to his “arrest”. This month an anti-terrorism court in Lahore handed down 15 and a half years jail term to Sajid Majeed Mir, in a terror-financing case.

BACKGROUND OF SAJID MIR

The “project manager” of the Mumbai attacks, Sajid Mir reportedly had visited India in 2005 using a fake passport with a fake name. Mir allegedly served as the chief planner of the attacks, directing preparations and reconnaissance, and was one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the attacks. Mir is allegedly also the brain behind the Denmark bombing operation codenamed ‘Micky Mouse’, referring to the publishing of cartoons of the ‘Prophet’ in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten. 

In 2007, a French court convicted a French national Willie Brigitte for planning terrorist attacks in Australia in 2003 in conjunction with Mir, the LeT’s suspected chief of external operations. Yet, Mir remained elusive until now when Pakistan desperately seeks the FATF grey-list exit. Pakistan, is trying to mislead the agency by declaring that it had arrested and prosecuted Sajid Mir. 

The arrest of Mir after nearly 14 years is evidence not of Pakistan’s effort but insincerity towards any genuine effort at counter-terrorism. His conviction and sentencing were so-called major achievements that Pakistani officials showcased in their progress report given to FATF on its action plan during the latest plenary. 

But the reality is that no action was taken by Pakistan when the US country report on terrorism in 2019 indicated his presence in Pakistan. International intel sources, too, said that he had been seen at the Muridke camp of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Unfortunately, despite being on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, Mir was not on the United Nations Security Council Resolution list (UNSCR 1267) which imposes sanctions against terrorists and their entities. This posed a challenge to counter-terrorism efforts of global agencies who were trying to catch and prosecute him. In absence of the UN sanctions, Pakistan’s ISI apparently continued to support him and ensure his unhindered activities in Pakistan. Some on ground reports suggest that the Pakistani military establishment may even have facilitated the alteration of his appearance through plastic surgery. 

MIR AND HIS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK

In the absence of any action against him and his connections with the Pakistani deep state, Mir, had in fact been trying to maximize the global footprint of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Brigitte from France, David Headley from the US and Faheem Lodhi from Australia were the discoveries of Mir. Brigitte, in his interrogation, had described Mir as “Uncle Bill” who was fluent in Arabic, Urdu and English.

Pakistan’s counter-terrorism policy remains ill-equipped to respond to challenges like the resurgence of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), rising sectarianism, and congenial environment for Kashmir-focused groups that have evaded counterterrorism scrutiny. 

While the anti-terror policy is in place on paper, it is very clear that there is lukewarm political support for action against radical entities in Pakistan. 

FARCE CONVICTIONS IN TERRORISM CASES A NORM

Take for instance the case of Jamat e Dawa (ex Lashkar e Taiba) chief Hafiz Saeed, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist who has allegedly been sentenced to 68 years imprisonment in terror-financing cases by the Lahore Anti-terrorism court. But the fact is that his sentence is running concurrently, which means he will not have to spend many more years in jail. 

One should recall how the exiled military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf would ridicule any talk of Pakistan hiding Osama, declaring that OBL was “probably dead, and definitely not in Pakistan”. And of course, the world witnessed how US Seals located him in a hideout in Abbottabad in 2011. Then there is the case of Baitullah Mehsud of the Tehreek- e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who backed the assassin who killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. He was declared “untraceable”, even “dead” in an encounter. But he surfaced in 2008 to deny any involvement.

The latest arrest of Sajid Mir also has a diplomatic angle. The new government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is keen on mending fences with the United States and up to a point, India, ostensibly, under American persuasion. But only words have come forth. Pakistan has acted this way in the past as well, under Washington’s persuasion. In this game these gestures on part of Pakistan are only to clear the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan that it urgently requires and for removal from the FATF grey-list. Through the release of successive national security related documents, and one-off arrests like that of Sajid Mir, Pakistan is deliberately and typically engaging in strategic manipulation to mislead the international community about the verity of its counter-terrorism effort or lack thereof.

The Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa visited Paris, France this month to attend the Eurosatory International Defence and Security Exhibition from June 13th to June 17th, 2022.

But to everyone’s surprise in the International and especially the Pakistani media, there was no mention of this visit or the meetings he held, with no press release issued by the Pakistani military media wing. Insiders say he kept a very low profile and did not even attend official dinners by the French organizers of the exhibition.

Sources close to the Pakistan embassy say that the country’s mission (which lacks an ambassador due to poor Pak-French relations) was apparently not even involved in the visit. “General Bajwa probably kept a low profile in France so not to upset the Islamist extremist groups back home, which consider France a blasphemous country,” observed a reporter working in Paris for Pakistani media. 

At the forefront of such anti French Islamist extremist groups that General Bajwa does not want to upset is Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a political party that is known to have close links to the Pakistani military. Efforts to ban the party on terror charges by Pakistan’s civilian leadership have failed and in recent years the TLP has gained more popularity in the country, becoming an electoral force that has won seats in the parliament. 

THE EMERGENCE OF TLP

TLP first emerged to the scene as a pressure group against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government in 2017. The ex-PM is known for his opposition to the military, and was ousted from power in 1999 in a military coup and sent into exile by General Pervez Musharraf, the then Pakistan army chief (who ruled the country from 1999 to 2008 until his own ouster).

Fast forward to 2017 – Sharif returns to power and once again becomes a headache for the military. So to weaken his government, the military reportedly orchestrated protests against the government, unleashing the Islamist group TLP this time, which made up claims that some government ministers had committed blasphemy. Eventually the Sharif government gave in to the demands of the extremist group, and fired one of its ministers to placate the protesters. But they only went home after the military stepped in and gave “assurances”.

In 2018, the Islamist party received more than two million votes in the general election, showing its strength across Pakistan.

TLP AND ANTI FRANCE CAMPAIGNS

The Islamist group then made headlines after it launched a campaign against France when Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed – an act deemed blasphemous by Muslims. The cartoons were reprinted to mark the beginning of the trial against those involved in the attack at the magazine Paris headquarters in 2015. 

In response, the TLP took the streets and demanded the expulsion of the French ambassador in Islamabad, and an end to Pak-French diplomatic ties. It almost stormed the French embassy in Islamabad during the protests that left several people dead and paralyzed the capital city. Eventually, the Islamist group agreed to back off after the then government of Prime Minister Imran Khan promised to take up their demands in the Pakistani parliament.

But just like in 2017, the group suddenly fizzled out, which many say was because the military became involved again. It is unclear whether the military orchestrated these protests to teach Khan’s government a lesson (which finally got ousted allegedly by the military earlier this year) or did the Pakistan Army want to settle a score with France, as the two countries have had a turbulent relations since the early 2000s when 12 French submarine engineers were killed in a suicide bombing attack in the southern Pakistani port city – Karachi. There are reports that suggest that terrorists who killed the engineers may have had linkages to the Pakistani military, and carried out the attack in revenge against the French government, after it refused to pay kickbacks to officials in Pakistan for awarding contracts to French companies.

DID BAJWA ASK ISPR TO STAY MUTED?

Owing to such history between the two countires – in the past and in recent times, it appears that the Pakistan Army Chief deliberately kept a low profile when he was in Paris and may have instructed his PR machine to stay quiet about it and not share it with the media, as is the case, normally when he goes on a visit internationally. Furthermore, it appears the general did not want to attract the attention of Pakistani Islamist groups, especially at a time when he is already facing backlash in the country for orchestrating the fall of Imran Khan’s government.

This May marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic terror attack in Karachi that left several French engineers dead in a bombing believed to be planned by Pakistani intelligence operatives. 

Now called the Karachi Affair – on 8th May 2002, a suicide bomber exploded his vehicle near a bus outside a well-known Karachi hotel, killing 14 people traveling, among them 11 French naval engineers, who were working on a submarine project for the Pakistani navy. 

Pakistani authorities blamed Islamist militants, but there were suspicions that the bombing was an act of revenge after then-French President Jacques Chirac ordered the payments of secret arms deal commissions to stop.

FRANCE CONVICTS EX-MINISTER FOR INVOLVEMENT IN KICKBACKS TO PAKISTAN

A French court last year handed a suspended jail term to Francois Leotard (former defence minister of Edouard Balladur’s government which was in power during the nineties) for his hand in allowing corruption in these said arms deals. 

Several other French government officials at that time were also found involved in approving payment of the commissions to intermediaries in the sale of three submarines to Pakistan. 

These facts came to light while French prosecutors were investigating the Karachi affair and they found members of the French ruling class involved, with investigators looking into allegations that kickbacks from the arms sales to Pakistan helped fund the failed 1995 presidential primary campaign of Edouard Balladur. 

DANIEL PEARL MURDER AND THE KARACHI AFFAIR – THE REVENGE ATTACKS

There are also reports that the murder of American journalist, Daniel Pearl, just three months before the bus bombing, was also carried out in connivance with Pakistani state operatives. Pearl was kidnapped on a reporting mission in Karachi and the involvement of state operatives became obvious when one of the demands made by his kidnappers after his abduction also pointed to a possible ulterior motive.

In two emails sent just after his kidnapping, his captors listed a number of conditions for the release of their hostage, one of which was for the United States to deliver the F-16 fighter jets that Pakistan had paid for but never received due to a diplomatic wrangle. 

This has led to further belief among the French investigators that the bus bombing was also a revenge attack. 

PAK-FRENCH WORSENING TIES SINCE THE KARACHI AFFAIR

Today, two decades later, the French state continues to hold those involved accountable in the Karachi affair, with jailing six other officials but the Pakistani state operatives have evaded justice. Not only that, Pakistan has pursued an anti France agenda in recent years, perhaps in response to the allegations it has faced over the killings of French nationals. 

An Islamist violent extremist group Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) known have close ties to the Pakistani army has organized several anti France protests in recent years in the country and its leaders have called for attacking the French embassy in Islamabad on more than one occasion. The reason – the group says the newly re-elected French President Emmanuel Macron has blasphemed by supporting anti Islam cartoons. 

Such anti France Islamist radicalization has not led to violence in Pakistan but also in France. 

PAKISTANI ATTACKS ON FRENCH SOIL

In the last few years, Pakistani radicals in France have carried out attacks against people for committing so-called blasphemy. 

In 2018, an Irish university lecturer was stabbed to death by one of his former students for allegedly ‘insulting the Prophet Mohammed’. The 66-year-old academic, named locally as John Dowling, was attacked and stabbed 13 times outside the Paris university where he worked. Police said Ali R., a 37-year-old Pakistani national was involved and had been arrested. After the killing, Ali told police that the teacher had made fun of his Muslim religion during English classes at the university.

Then in 2020, Zaheer Hassan Mahmood, a Pakistani man living illegally in Paris was caught after he stabbed and injured two people outside the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine. Police say he was radicalised by videos of preachers in Pakistan and anti-France demonstrations back in his country.

The 26-year-old had spent the days leading up to his knife attack watching extremist preachers on YouTube and TikTok denouncing France and Charlie Hebdo.

Reportedly, Mahmood watched videos by protest leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the late founder of TLP party, and other radical preachers. He was also influenced by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who in speeches when in power had accused Macron of “attacking Islam”.

Owing to the so called blasphemous cartoon controversy, Pakistan is yet to post its regular ambassador to France. Although with a new government in power in Islamabad, there have been efforts to reset the ties, but without much progress, given Pakistan’s known duplicity in the past and lack of accountability, even today.